GRAHAMRAHAL, No. 15 Midas / Big O Tires Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The first heat race was great. I thought we had a good car this morning. The Midas / Big O Tires guys did a great job and we charged from seventh and got up there and won the race. We really, really felt the car was very compet­i­tive and were able to charge through the field which not a lot of the guys were seem­ingly able to do. And again in the second heat race, I think we could have won it. I think we had the car but unfor­tu­nately Ed (Carpenter) and I bumped and we lost four percent front COP (center of pres­sure; from front wing damage) so the car didn’t want to turn. The fact that we could still run high 18’s (18-second lap time) without a front wing is pretty impres­sive so I’m pleased with the car. I think it’s going to be pretty good.”

FASTFACTS: Will be his sixth race here. He set the 19th fastest lap time in single-car qual­i­fying today to deter­mine that he would be in Heat Race 2. He drove to victory in Heat Race 2 after starting seventh and progressed to Heat Race 3 where he also started seventh. Contact with Ed Carpenter on Lap 16 of 50 damaged his front wing and he held on to finish ninth of 10 cars to match his best start at Iowa of ninth and also earned his best start of 2013 to date… He has earned three top-10 finishes in five starts here with his best being ninth (2012, 2010). In 2012 he qual­i­fied 10th, started 20th (penalty for unap­proved engine change) and finished 9th with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing (SCCGR). In 2011 he qual­i­fied 20th and finished 15th with SCCGR. In 2010 he qual­i­fied 17th with Dreyer & Rein­bold Racing, led 11 laps and finished 9th. In 2009 he qual­i­fied 9th and finished 11th with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) and in 2008 he qual­i­fied 16th and finished 10th with NHLR… His best finish this season issecond place in Long Beach and best start is 9th in Iowa (tomorrow)… Is ranked 17th in series stand­ings with 151 points.

JAMESJAKES, No. 16 Acorn Stair­lifts Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We just made a mistake in Turn 2. We strug­gled on our own and then the balance came to us. I could see those three cars coming up pretty quickly. I was a bit opti­mistic. I don’t think there is too much damage so the guys won’t have to stay too late. It’s disappointing.’

FASTFACTS: Will be third event here. He set the 13th fastest lap time in single-car qual­i­fying to deter­mine that he would be in Heat Race 2. He was in fourth place when he made contact in Turn 2 and finished 8th to earn a 21st place start in the race Sunday… He qual­i­fied 21st in 2012 and started 18th after others served engine penal­ties and finished 13th after he led one lap. In 2011, he qual­i­fied 24th but retired in 25th after contact – both years with Dale Coyne Racing… Three races ago in Detroit was a break­through event for Jakes as he earned his highest career start and finish in Dual 2 in Detroit of second place… It is his third season in the IndyCar Series and first with RLL. In 31 Indy car starts with Dale Coyne Racing from 2011 – 2012, his best finish was eighth at Toronto and series-best start of eighth was at Motegi… His best start to date this season is 2nd at Detroit Dual 2 and best finish is also 2nd in Detroit’s Dual 2 … Is ranked 15th in series stand­ings with 160 points.

RLLRACINGATIOWASPEEDWAY: The Iowa Corn Indy 250 will mark the fourth event for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) at Iowa Speedway. The best finish for the team is third in 2007 by Scott Sharp who also earned the top start for the team of fourth the same year. Prior to the 2013 event, the team prepared a total of four entries for drivers Scott Sharp (2007), Jeff Simmons (2007), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2008) and Takuma Sato (2012). The team has earned ONE podium (3rd, Sharp 2007) and two, top-10 finishes at the track. LASTYEARATIOWA: Sato qual­i­fied 23rd and finished 12th. The No. 15 Midas / Big O Tires entry for Graham Rahal and the No. 16 Acorn Stair­lifts entry for James Jakes will bring that total to six in 2013.

NEXTUP: The 250-lap Iowa Corn Indy 250 will take the Green Flag at 2:05 p.m. CT tomorrow. ABC will begin their live broad­cast of the race at 2:30 p.m. ET. It will also be broad­cast by the IMS Radio Network on Sirius XM (XM 94 and Sirius 212). Timing and Scoring infor­ma­tion is avail­able for all sessions from www.indycar.com.